Retail has always been a people business, and face-to-face interactions between customers and employees take center stage. Right now, in-store shopping is coming back strong, but retail businesses are facing a historically tight labor market. This challenge is inspiring retailers to reimagine the shopping experience by elevating customer service while supporting frontline workers. 

Customers visit stores because they’re looking for an experience, and they hope to come home with a product they love. When retail associates can connect with and inform customers, they can deliver on both those goals. That’s why an investment in frontline workers has a valuable impact on customers. By empowering store employees with the right tools, leaders can improve conversion rates and customer satisfaction at the same time. 

Retaining talent amid the retail reshuffle 

The retail reshuffle has added urgency to the need for employee engagement. With the labor market in unfamiliar territory, competition for associates has never been hotter. This creates an opportunity for retail innovators to differentiate themselves. 

I recently had the opportunity to grab a few minutes with Ron Thurston, the host of the Retail in America tour and podcast. He’s been traveling the United States to speak with retailers and their associates, and he has some inspiring ideas about the future of the sector. 

“There is this emotion that’s so innately human in retail, which I love, but it doesn’t work well without great technology,” says Thurston. 

To retain talent, retailers are rethinking the demands they place on their employees and retooling the resources they deliver. According to a study by Axonify, issues of access and turnover can mean frontline training takes a back seat. Over one-third of employees say they only receive training during big job changes like transfers and promotions, and about 20 percent rarely or never get additional training. Imagine trying to deliver a great customer experience and make sales without training.  

Although technology will never fully replace a trainer, it can help narrow the training gap by empowering associates with the information they need. Blum, a manufacturer of furniture fittings based in Austria, addressed this challenge by implementing a unified employee experience solution. Blum’s new offering makes it easy for its teams to message one another, request time off, read up on new processes, and keep up with company announcements, all in one place. By equipping them with modern resources, Blum has engaged and energized its employees. 

Unlocking organizational knowledge using data 

Retail employees see up close the supply chain pressures and changes in consumer behavior that are challenging the retail industry. But without unified data, their knowledge often doesn’t reach strategic planners. The variety of operations in each store further complicates matters.  

In one moment, associates must run outside to fulfill curbside pickup orders, but in the next moment, they must find a way to stock shelves despite low inventory. Tracking all these activities is not simple. Customers, meanwhile, expect employees to offer clear answers to their questions about items and orders. These challenges add up fast, and to confidently tackle them, frontline workers need a solution that gives them insight into day-to-day activities in their store. 

The REI Co-op has responded to the retail reshuffle by equipping its employees with modern communication tools that make it easy for them to engage in both one-on-one conversations and group meetings. REI workers in 10 US regions can now communicate securely with colleagues and managers using Microsoft technology. And managers can host up to 1,000 people—compared to 125 previously—on conference calls to deliver updates and announcements at scale. 

Using technology to transform retail 

Like Microsoft, Thurston is a big believer in innovation. He spoke to me about a future in which frontline workers could be deployed on demand to support stores on especially busy days. If retailers continue to innovate, the industry is set to become far more flexible than ever before. After speaking with him, I’m excited to see how the sector will transform in the years to come. 

Check out this video to see Thurston share some of the big lessons he has learned on his Retail in America tour.

Audio description version: https://youtu.be/_aTcInZZRXQ

To learn more about how you can elevate both employee and customer experiences with a unified data platform, check out Microsoft Cloud for Retail. 

The post Modern resourcing to empower retail associates appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

In seizing these new possibilities, retailers are focusing on three areas—customer experiences, frontline workers, and the supply chain—and finding new ways to grow and prepare for whatever the future brings. The three areas are tightly interconnected because well-equipped frontline workers are key to an outstanding customer experience, while a robust supply chain and inventory build customer trust.

Microsoft is committed to helping retailers grow through digital transformation, so we invited three retail thought leaders to discuss key trends across the industry.

Finding a holistic approach to an exceptional customer experience

In an ever-changing landscape, retailers are innovating to deliver experiences that their customers enjoy.

Top retail influencer Cathy Hotka, of Cathy Hotka and Associates, says that digital transformation is key. “Customers expect an exceptional customer experience,” says Hotka. “Companies need to think about how they can deliver that for every customer at every touch point.”

Retailers must think holistically, from a store’s physical layout to the digital services offered to customers. According to Hotka, companies like Tractor Supply and Build-A-Bear Workshop are finding that investing in improved customer experiences and knowledgeable, well-equipped staff is paying off.

It’s easier than ever to buy products remotely, from a laptop or phone to a TV. Retailers that focus on brand building and secure omnichannel transactions can gain increased consumer loyalty and deliver exceptional service, however people choose to shop.

Cathy Hotka offers more insights into retail trends and the importance of the customer experience in the full interview.

Audio description version: Retail trends with Cathy Hotka – YouTube

Building customer trust through supply chain agility

Recent disruptions to supply chains and labor markets have brought new opportunities to streamline business processes and improve a company’s digital journey. Unforeseen impacts to supply chains are always possible, but retailers that optimize their digital presence and take a forward-looking approach are better positioned to deal with surprises.

Greg Buzek, Founder and President of IHL Group, emphasizes that ample inventory inspires trust, but supply chain shortages over the past two years have impacted that trust. “Only 7.4 percent of customers surveyed said that their trust improved in their local retailer to have items in stock,” says Buzek. Companies that can quickly pivot and adapt to supply chain disruptions can ensure that they keep the inventory their customers expect.

Additionally, retailers that invest in optimizing the online shopping journey can increase customer satisfaction while also improving profitability. Gibson Brands, the iconic guitar maker, rejuvenated its business by shifting to an omnichannel environment. Gibson’s innovative approach helped it to connect with its customers and provide customized experiences. Read more about Gibson’s digital transformation here.

Learn more about how your company can optimize supply chain agility and its digital operations in the full interview with Greg Buzek.

Audio description version: Retail trends with Greg Buzek – YouTube

Personalizing the shopping experience through online innovation and frontline workers

Innovations in e-commerce, such as live streaming and personalized marketing, can help recreate the magic of in-store shopping and boost customer confidence in online purchases. Taking advantage of these opportunities requires security and customer data protection.

Jeff Roster, Producer and Cohost of This Week in Innovation and Third Eye Podcast Network, looks at the benefits of innovation and secure technology. “In retail today, there are tons of devices,” says Roster. “Now is the time to get a handle on what all these devices are and have the security in place to protect data.”

Frontline workers are also key to providing an excellent in-store shopping experience. “If we are not taking care of our frontline workers and getting them the tools that they need, there won’t be a positive customer experience,” says Roster.

To learn more about Jeff Roster’s perspectives on the top retail trends for 2023, tune in to the full interview.

Audio description version: Retail trends with Jeff Roster – YouTube

Retail transformation helps businesses thrive

I appreciate the time that these three experts took to speak with Microsoft about retail trends in 2023. My team thrives on helping retailers identify and solve problems to give their customers positive shopping events in a secure environment. With the right investments in people and technology, we can build experiences that keep consumers coming back and stores thriving.

Find out how Microsoft Cloud for Retail can help your organization empower employees, delight customers, and build security and agility, today and in the future.

The post Experts weigh in on creating successful retail experiences appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

We met with three industry opinion leaders to discuss key trends in financial services this year. We are pleased to share their thoughts about the value of technology in enhancing the customer experience and connecting data for better insights. 

Digital transformation improves insurance solutions 

Bryan Falchuk, Founder and Managing Partner of Insurance Evolution Partners and President and CEO of Property and Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB), says that data is the key to delivering a winning experience for customers. But data has long been trapped in offline media and disparate communications. 

“By digitizing more data, you can piece together a more holistic view of a customer and become a valued partner,” says Falchuk. 

Knowing your customers not only helps increase engagement but also invites new customers into the business. Financial services companies are using technology to connect with new customer groups. By digitizing more interactions, businesses have dramatically increased engagement from previously underserved groups of people. 

Falchuk says that insurance providers should use innovative technology to improve the customer experience and accessibility. “We can use digital tools to remove biases that might exist in the ways we’ve worked for decades,” says Falchuk. “It is a beautiful, additional value point to the change that’s going on in the industry.” 

Learn more about how digital tools put a great customer experience front and center in the full discussion with Bryan Falchuk. 

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Fintech innovation empowers financial institutions and customers’ decision-making 

For many people, financial conversations are filled with uncertainty. Shifting market conditions only heighten these feelings. Fintech companies have an opportunity to help customers better understand their financial situations. 

Theodora Lau, an author, public speaker, advisor, and the founder of Unconventional Ventures, says that the pressures of shifting economic conditions create new needs from customers. Using the power of data and innovative financial technology, banks and other financial institutions can provide new and better products. 

“Data is the foundation of everything that we do,” says Lau. “With more actionable, holistic data, we can provide better insights to customers to act on.” 

Lau is also enthusiastic about how financial institutions are using tools and data to empower underrepresented demographics. Technology can improve the accessibility of financial services to people and businesses around the world. For example, “Promoting financial inclusion for women is one of the amazing things we can do with technology,” says Lau. 

Check out the full video for more of our conversation with Theodora Lau about fintech innovations. 

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Financial services and technology intersect for industry innovation

Even outside of the financial industry, businesses and organizations are benefiting from innovative technology. Efi Pylarinou, fintech thought leader and founder of Pylarinou Advisory, says that mobile wallets represent a key trend on a global basis. 

In 2021, mobile wallets achieved 49 percent of market share for transactions. And while they’re already popular for e-commerce, mobile wallets are expected to continue increasing in popularity in stores too. 

“The next wave of digital transformation in this industry is all about delivering financial services through smartphones,” says Pylarinou. “Whether it’s for retail customers or businesses, the trend will be toward distributing finance wherever the customer is.” 

Mobile commerce brings additional data that businesses can use to get to know their customers better. It can also reduce customer acquisition costs. “With more data, businesses can increase the long-term value of their customers,” says Pylarinou. 

Pylarinou cites several other infrastructure innovations that are poised to drive trends going forward, “These include mobile commerce apps to central bank digital currencies and securities management. This new infrastructure is going to remove friction to improve the flow of data.” 

With better data and AI, there is a great opportunity for innovations in supply chain logistics and other aspects of businesses both inside and outside of the financial services industry. 

Access more of our discussion about the impact of fintech innovations on businesses with Efi Pylarinou in the full video. 

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Elevating the customer experience with data 

Technology can help financial services companies overcome industry challenges and elevate the customer experience. With Microsoft services, you’ll have the tools you need to unlock the power of your data and meet your customers’ needs wherever they are. 

Learn more about how to gain new insights from your data by connecting with the Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services. 

Sign up to stay informed about these and other trends with the Microsoft Cloud for Financial Services newsletter. 

The post Financial services experts discuss innovations in customer experience appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

Agencies are working together in new ways and using technology as a catalyst. They are finding opportunities to use cross-agency data for insights to improve services and solve problems. Many governments have seen how collaboration speeds initiatives to drive economic growth and are finding opportunities to securely use cross-agency data for insights. Emerging technologies also offer new opportunities for workforce development to enhance the customer experience and foster a sustainable future. 

Microsoft wanted to explore how US agencies are using data as a foundation for preparedness. So we invited three industry thought leaders to discuss trends in public safety, health and human services (HHS), and transportation. 

Developing safer communities through data collaboration between government agencies

Public-safety agencies rely on interagency collaboration to tackle the challenges of growing data volumes, evolving policy standards and utilizing technology to enhance communities. 

Maria Cardiellos is the Executive Director of the Integrated Justice Information Systems (IJIS) Institute. This nonprofit brings together professionals from private and public sectors to collaborate on solutions that address community challenges. Cardiellos sees how enabling data collaboration can solve public challenges by bridging communication gaps. This can lead to better community outcomes. 

Some of the IJIS Institute’s recent initiatives include replacing incarceration with rehabilitation. This progress inspires Cardiellos. Collaboration among law enforcement, courts, and practitioners has advanced these efforts. By sharing records, they can make better policy decisions. 

“Policy comes into play when sharing data across departments,” says Cardiellos. “The more domains that we bring together to exchange data, the more complex those policy changes can be.” 

To address these challenges, governments are creating communities of subject-matter experts from different departments. The result is easier collaboration and more cohesive policy changes. 

Tune in to the full interview for more insights from Cardiellos. Learn how data sharing and cross-agency collaboration are impacting public safety. 

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Innovating the delivery of health and human services programs 

Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies are finding success in data collaboration efforts that enhance public access to health and social service programs. 

Jess Maneely is the Assistant Director for Process Innovation at the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), a non-profit association that seeks to influence modern policies that support the health and well-being of children and families. Maneely emphasizes that meeting the needs of people comes from being proactive, not reactive. 

“This focus uses process innovation efforts to transform the systems and modes of service delivery,” says Maneely. “This is done through customer-centered approaches that minimize barriers, remove redundancies, and reduce administrative burden.” 

However, making space for innovation and data-driven strategies while maintaining policy compliance can be challenging. Prioritizing coordination points between HHS programs helps people connect seamlessly to all qualifying services. This can be done using links like application programming interfaces and integrated systems. 

APHSA initiated coordinated efforts by launching a community meeting to gather administrators from many HHS agencies. They share processing improvements, discuss challenges, and find solutions for participation gaps and application automation across HHS programs. These programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). 

Go into more depth in the video. Discover how HHS programs use process innovation to include a community voice in its data strategy to enhance human service delivery. 

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Adopting modern technology to enhance transportation infrastructure safety and efficiency 

The next evolution of transportation safety is the move to a digitized collaboration of agencies. New technologies help optimize investments already in place. They allow for dynamic management of those assets that lead to safer outcomes for residents.  

Laura Chace, President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, notes the importance of a data-centric transportation initiative. 

“In the last 50 years, our infrastructure was built with concrete and steel. But in the next 50 years, it is going to be built with software and code,” says Chace. 

Investments in digital infrastructure, such as AI software, open many opportunities. For example, data can help shorten emergency response times. It can also analyze traffic patterns while congestion-prediction tools help authorities reroute traffic in real-time. This can help prevent accidents and reduce carbon emissions. 

Follow the conversation with Laura Chase in this video. You’ll gain insight into data’s impact on transportation. You’ll also learn how diversity and inclusion efforts are broadening women’s roles in the industry. 

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Creating a diverse community of data-driven success for the public sector 

These discussions with industry leaders can inspire new ideas. Emerging solutions can elevate public safety, transform service delivery, and impact approaches to critical infrastructure. This can be accomplished by using data for institutional progress. 

In the coming years, collaboration and data sharing between public agencies will lead to even more innovations.  

Improve your data-driven strategy by learning more about the technology used in Microsoft for Government.

The post Experts reveal how state and local governments are innovating with data-driven strategies appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

We’ve brought three key opinion leaders into discussions with Microsoft leaders to dive deeper into the trends driving advancements in healthcare and life sciences, including remote care, connected data, and AI. 

These conversations explore how you can adapt to the ongoing shift toward hybrid and omnichannel healthcare by using technology to unlock the power of information and care.

Balancing high-touch and high-tech in nursing

Nursing is a high-touch profession, with nurses delivering personalized care to individuals. However, as providers work to staff enough nurses and outdated systems lead to siloed information and administrative backlogs, the industry needs technology to play a bigger role in helping nurses deliver that care.

Dr. Bonnie Clipper, Founder and CEO of Innovation Advantage, discusses the importance of the developments that are happening at the intersection of nursing and technology.

“Every single workflow is ripe for disruption and transformation,” says Clipper. “It’s up to us to identify the gaps and weaknesses that we can use technology to address.”

Cloud technology, AI, and virtual communication platforms show promise as solutions to the challenges facing the nursing industry. “The bright spot I’ve seen is virtual-care nursing,” says Clipper. “This virtual model is going to allow organizations to provide safer care and a safer orientation for new nurses.”

Also, innovators are identifying new ways that technology can support nursing staff by off-loading some tasks to computers so nurses can focus on providing the best care possible.

Clipper offers some valuable advice for healthcare professionals: “We need to learn how to embrace technology in appropriate roles and identify the opportunities where we can use it to solve problems.” 

Check out the full interview with Dr. Bonnie Clipper for more insights on this increasingly hybrid approach to healthcare. 

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Delivering omnichannel patient care to more people than ever

As the healthcare landscape changes, it’s important for organizations to understand the variety of ways that innovative technology can help deliver better care to their patients where they want to be seen. 

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn is a health economist and founder of THINK-Health. “Primary care is the leading aspect of this trend toward care at home,” says Sarasohn-Kahn. 

Meeting people where they are through care-anywhere solutions represents an important shift to patient-centered care, a shift that COVID-19 accelerated. Now, innovative technology is creating and improving many of these omnichannel ways to access healthcare, including telehealth video calls, virtual mental health services, and more.

How can the healthcare industry promote omnichannel care through trusted touchpoints and a patient-centered system? Sarasohn-Kahn points to one major factor: data.

“We can’t achieve seamless omnichannel care until we realize that healthcare is a data-driven enterprise,” says Sarasohn- Kahn.

Dive deeper into omnichannel care with Jane Sarasohn-Kahn in the full video. 

^{Audio description version: https://youtu.be/tKSdZsB40Yk}

Unlocking the power of information to improve healthcare

Gil Bashe, Chair of Global Health and Purpose at FINN Partners, agrees that connecting data by using technology is the key to unlocking the power of information. 

Healthcare data can reveal insights to improve patient care, empower health team collaboration, and enhance provider experiences. However, much of the information in healthcare systems is siloed. To improve healthcare, organizations must unlock the power of information by using technology to connect it.

Bashe says that COVID-19 led to rapid innovation in telehealth and the increased adoption of AI. “What’s happening with these technologies is exactly what needs to happen,” says Bashe. “It’s not this or that; it’s a hybrid.”

Bashe believes that AI is a game changer that will help healthcare providers make better decisions faster. “Using AI, we will have the power of the professional complemented by the power of information,” says Bashe.

In the interview below, you’ll access more of our discussion with Gil Bashe about the increasing importance of connected data in healthcare.

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Discussing technology trends with healthcare industry experts

These key opinion leaders were generous with their time and insights as Microsoft explored the exciting opportunities that continue to develop in healthcare.

Find out how Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare can help your organization prepare for new and evolving directions in healthcare and deliver better experiences, insights, and care.

The post Expert perspectives on trends driving change in healthcare appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

In late 2022, we surveyed 100 leaders in banking, insurance, and capital markets to get a sense of where financial services organizations will focus their energies in 2023. This is our third annual survey, and the responses signal a shift from the last two years: 2023 Customer Experience Trends in Financial Services.  

AI Supported Customer Engagement  

Digitalization was a major theme throughout COVID-19. Several years in, the rush has slowed. In our 2022 report, 62 percent of respondents said they dedicated at least a quarter of their budgets to customer experience (CX). That number has fallen as the urgency of change fades. Now that services have been moved online, the emphasis has shifted to optimizing them. 

Businesses are turning toward new technologies to automate processes and enhance the value of the digital customer experience. This year, the goal for many businesses is to unlock customer self-service, and some 50 percent of respondents said they want to use customer data for real-time personalization. According to a director of a capital markets firm with annual revenue of over $10 billion, “AI-supported customer engagement is the most competitive innovation in the industry.” As a result, more than 50 percent of our survey respondents believe their customers will embrace digital financial tools over physical branch services in the next 12 months. 

Omnichannel CX 

Most companies strive to provide the same level of service and personalization in digital and in-person settings. However, financial services organizations must comply with regulations that can make this goal challenging. 

In the 2023 report, fewer respondents said that their organizations’ CX was consistent across channels than the previous year. This could reflect the difficulties inherent in digitalization within the industry. As a result, CX leaders are investing in solutions to become more efficient, better serve customers, and reduce expenses. As one C-suite executive put it, “The personalization of virtual interactions with customers will drive value across the industry.” As a result, 46 percent of respondents in our 2023 report say their organizations’ CX budgets will increase in the next 12 months.

Consistent CX across all touchpoints with personalization 

Year over year, financial services organizations have made progress on making their CX more consistent. In 2022, 33 percent of respondents said their CX was somewhat consistent across channels. That number has jumped to 49 percent in the 2023 report. 

Respondents said that tracking customer cases across channels is their biggest issue in this area. Many also noted that it can be difficult to build meaningful customer relationships. This challenge was also mentioned in the 2022 report. In both years, respondents emphasized that personalization is the key to cultivating relationships with customers. As a result, more than 90 percent are integrating a customer relationship management solution into the call center and adding additional training that will help agents build strong customer relationships. 

Take action to enhance your CX 

Learn more about how you can enhance your CX by downloading the 2023 Customer Experience Trends in Financial Services report. 

To learn more about our financial services solutions and partners, check out our dedicated resources for banking, capital markets, and insurance. 

The post Three customer experience trends that will shape financial services in 2023 and beyond appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

Unfortunately, traditional collections methods are expensive, ineffective, and damaging to customer relationships and brands. Once an account goes into outbound collections, the success rate drops to 5 percent.^[1] This is a costly and inefficient process at best. Processes like this also rarely consider the context of the debt and the psychological impact on the customer. Customer retention suffers, the NPL is less likely to be paid, and a bank then needs to invest to acquire new customers.

Focusing on customers, relying on science

These are some of the reasons that leading financial institutions are embracing compassionate lending, a consumer-centric approach based on behavioral science and advanced analytics. Identifying risk earlier and tailoring resolution strategies help keep customers out of collections—maintaining the relationship and reducing losses. It’s better for the customer and better for the business.

Symend, a Microsoft partner, is leading innovation in compassionate lending by delivering hyper-personalized digital experiences. Symend’s white label software as a service (SaaS) solution, which uses Microsoft AI services and Microsoft Azure, designs and deploys digital engagement strategies that match the pace of changing consumer needs, preferences, and behaviors. Symend’s solution can be applied to proactively engage at-risk customers, providing tailored, proven options that resolve past due accounts faster. Institutions can engage with customers through their preferred channels, ethically and empathetically guiding customers toward self-serve tools and flexible payment options at scale. This helps customers maintain a healthy relationship with the lender, reduces penalties, and resolves past due bills before reaching collections. All of this enables enterprises to protect their brands, retain customers, resolve NLPs, and reduce costs.

Combining behavior and risk

As I learned recently from David Nathanson, Senior Vice President, Head of Global Sales and Partnerships at Symend, this is a departure from segmenting portfolios based on types of risk, which tend to rely on simple thresholds for decision-making. Instead, Symend uses data to personalize offers and interactions. “By capturing insights from millions of engagements, we can tailor digital interactions to groups of customers that behave similarly, which are overlaid across risk cohorts. This way, you wind up with a much more personalized interaction and strategy, which adapts as your customers change.”

Symend’s research shows that 76 percent of consumers are more willing to pay off debt if the experience is friendly and personalized. The company’s in-house analysis further confirms that customers treated with empathy are more likely to engage positively and pay outstanding bills.

Maintaining the chain of communications is critical. Distressed customers are often fearful of communicating with their financial institutions, especially when the relationship turns adversarial. Using Symend, financial institutions can prevent this disconnect. Based on its own research on open and click-through rates, Symend’s clients see click rates up to five times higher than the industry average. This increased engagement correlates with improved cure rates.

With tailored messaging and the ability to drive specific behaviors, Symend’s clients also see customers move out of delinquency faster. Research shows speed-to-cure improvements averaging 10 percent and improvements in roll rates averaging 2–3 percent for customers 90-days-plus past due. In Nathanson’s words, “There’s both a positive economic impact and a positive brand impact, and an overall positive societal impact. When you can drive value across those three very specific pieces, there’s a huge return for our clients.”

When customers feel empowered to make decisions, they take positive action. When financial institutions bridge the gap for those who are struggling to make payments, success is achieved for both the consumer and the enterprise for the long-term. At Microsoft, we are proud to partner with innovative companies like Symend that are using data and technology to tackle big challenges and improve people’s lives around the world.

[1] Five ways banks can transform their collections processes, EY US, 2020

The post AI-driven compassionate lending: Better for banks and customers appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

As a professional services leader, you might wonder if ways of working and even entire operating models will ever be the same. Everything about the way your organization develops, packages, and delivers its services is changing. Where you once relied on billable hours as a primary source of revenue, you may now be exploring how to convert existing services into products as a potential new revenue driver. To do this, your organization needs to become digital factory capable of delivering technology-driven solutions to meet customer needs.

You now face a new imperative: delivering greater value and differentiated service with a newly distributed workforce—and doing it at scale. The answer to that imperative is digital transformation.

Technology’s role in the future of professional services

People are the most important resource for any professional services firm, with people-related costs representing 79 percent of professional services revenue¹. However, faced with ongoing challenges with retention, upskilling, and hiring, firms are examining their reliance on “people power” to execute internal business functions and deliver on customer commitments. They’re looking to technology to augment their workforce and create new pathways to growth.

The future of professional services relies on remote productivity and collaboration, along with the ability to scale through process efficiency. As the workforce shifts and customers demand more scalable and product/app-focused solutions, you’ll need an agile strategy that flexes with changing demands, as well as the digital infrastructure to deliver operational excellence and create more engaging customer experiences. Moving to the cloud helps you meet these challenges while maximizing your technology investments. With cloud-based tools, your teams can collaborate on a scale not possible with on-premises infrastructure, while creating process efficiencies through intelligent automation.

Of course, people will always be central to professional services operating models. The right digital solutions amplify the impact of your team and let them focus on what matters most: building and maintaining customer relationships. Firms that acknowledge and adapt to the changing nature of work have an opportunity to transform into a truly people-centric organization, where employees remain at the heart of what they do.

Likewise, failing to become digitally savvy can make your organization less attractive to potential new hires, and in cases where you’re seeking to innovate and digitally transform quickly, employee voice and input may be muted, or worse, employees may fear their roles are being displaced rather than elevated.

Benefits of digital transformation

Firms that embrace a “digital first, digital forever” mindset can expect benefits in key areas across the organization. According to the Services Performance Insight 2021 Professional Services Maturity Benchmark^TM report, those benefits include:

• Higher revenue growth (12 percent).


• More client references (12 percent).


• Improved project delivery efficiency (38 percent).


• Higher (annual) revenue per employee (422 percent).


• Profit (EBITDA) (416 percent).

The evidence is clear—digital tools play an important role in helping firms shift their operating model from one focused on efficient service delivery to one focused on responsiveness and continuous solution deployment. In other words, digital transformation is key to future-proofing your business.

At Microsoft, we’re committed to helping you use the power of the cloud to increase business and technical agility. When you use Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 together as a consolidated platform, you can accelerate your digital journey and enjoy the freedom to innovate. Migrate legacy applications to Azure and benefit from reduced IT costs, the ability to scale up or down quickly based on your needs, and a better experience for your employees—wherever they are located. Increase productivity with Microsoft 365, which brings together best-in-class productivity apps with powerful cloud services, device management, and advanced security in one, connected experience. And focus more on your customers with the Dynamics 365 portfolio of intelligent business applications, including customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools.

As the vanguards of global business trends, professional services firms are uniquely positioned to transform business models, including their own. Investing in your organization’s digital transformation today will allow you to advise your customers from a place of practical experience tomorrow, as well as deliver the value and service they’ve come to expect.

Learn how digital transformation transformed the Microsoft employee experience and sign up for an Art of the Possible event to explore new ways of working.

¹ IBISWorld INDUSTRY REPORT 54 Professional, Scientific and Technical Services in the US (September 2021)

The post The new digital imperative for professional services appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

K-12 educators devote their lives to ensuring every child has the opportunity to learn, grow, and achieve their best. However, their work has become more challenging in the past few years. Issues of equity and access, social-emotional learning, and educational achievement have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Students are coming to school with higher levels of trauma and anxiety. What’s more, the teaching workforce has gotten smaller, leaving fewer experienced professionals to meet students’ needs. Studies have shown significant learning loss and inequity resulting from the pandemic.

Graphic showing McKinsey data¹

If unaddressed, learning loss, as documented in the graphic above, can reduce lifelong earnings potential for these students. To solve these challenges, today’s education leaders are using data and AI to personalize learning, free up time to focus on individual student needs, and expand educational equity.

Serving individual student needs at scale

K-12 educators are tasked with helping to strengthen the foundations of lifelong learning. Reading is a key example. The traditional approach to reading assessment—where individual students read aloud to teachers—is time-consuming, taxing, and imprecise. By the time evaluations are complete, the class may be well into the school year.

Using advanced speech recognition technology and AI, teachers can measure students’ reading progress quickly and easily. Assessments can happen in parallel whenever it is convenient. In addition to measuring reading progress, AI can help students build fluency through independent reading practice and give educators up-to-date insight into student progress.

Teachers can also use AI to assist with curriculum curation, whether for individual students learning at their own pace or an entire class. Schools usually have large libraries of learning objects such as videos, quizzes, and interactive experiences. Teachers face the task of choosing which materials to use based on their understanding of student progress. Using AI that recommends materials based on student achievement data, teachers can augment their experience and expertise and get back time to work with students.

These examples show how AI helps educators address individual student needs and gain more time to mentor and interact with students. It empowers them to apply their experience, empathy, and mentorship for maximum impact.

Understanding the needs of each student

Every educator does their best to get to know their students. However, class sizes for many teachers make it especially challenging to keep up with the full range of student progress and needs. Modern data analytics can help them scale while deepening their understanding of how their students are doing.

With tools such as Education Insights for Teams, educators have one place to get real-time analytics of participant progress and activity within a class team. At a glance, they can proactively track student progress, get the data they need to shape the student experience, and ensure they are meeting social and emotional as well as academic needs.

The goal is never to replace the expertise of skilled teachers. AI and analytics scale and augment that expertise, freeing teachers to apply their skills in the most effective ways.

Ensuring security, privacy, and access

Any time data is used in an education setting, security is a paramount concern. Microsoft Security Intelligence finds that education is by far the most-targeted sector, with 64 percent of devices reporting a malware encounter in the most recent 30-day period. Additionally, schools face stringent compliance requirements regarding security and privacy.

Choosing technology vendors that recognize and respond to this challenge is essential. Microsoft invests more than $1 billion annually in security and privacy research, which directly enables new security protections for education customers. The company has launched a national campaign to support community colleges in addressing the cybersecurity skills gap, helps schools comply with regulatory requirements, and recognizes privacy as a fundamental human right. This ethos is made real in its transparency around the collection and use of data.

Helping educators empower every student

Many resources are available to support schools in their missions to improve equity and access to technology. Through discount programs such as Shape the Future, Microsoft provides increased access to the latest software and hardware for students so they can have a better learning experience. K-12 educators can also take advantage of in-depth resources on digital transformation and remote learning, helping them bring the benefits of technology investments to all students.

I continue to be inspired by the ways our customers use technology to enable learning. Those seeing the greatest impact take a holistic and systematic approach to data, analytics, and digital transformation. For example, the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) generates actionable insights with Microsoft Azure to support equitable outcomes for students. “We have to be more strategic in using data to inform best practices, policy approaches, and different types of interventions to help all kids gain access to a quality education,” says Dr. Dean Folkers, Chief Information Officer at the NDE [currently Director, Data and Technology, Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)]. “We want to get systems and processes in place that help us make the most use of our hybrid environment moving forward. The collaborative tools—using Teams, our transition to OneDrive and SharePoint across the board—is all part of our implementation.”

Sometimes the most challenging times are also the most rewarding. Educators and technologists today have unprecedented opportunities to help students achieve more. I’m excited to see what the future brings.

Join us to learn more about data and security solutions for the education and government sectors at the US Public Sector Summit.

¹ “COVID-19 and education: The lingering effects of unfinished learning,” McKinsey & Company, 2021.

The post Addressing critical K-12 education challenges using data and AI appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

Delighting consumer goods (CG) customers has a different meaning today than it did more than a year ago. Every aspect of how we work, live, and shop has shifted since the COVID-19 pandemic, and I don’t think anyone would have imagined just how extensively this world event would affect the retail industry.

Pantry loading and mass product shortages revealed tremendous vulnerabilities in retail and consumer goods supply chains that resulted in poor customer experiences, brand shifting, and changes in shopping behavior. During the pantry loading surge, I wasn’t the only Charmin Blue customer going to Costco to stock up. But when I was met with an empty pallet, I simply walked across the parking lot to Lowe’s Home Improvement and restocked with success.

The closing of many brick-and-mortar stores caused a fundamental shift in consumer buying behaviors as consumers became reliant on safe and socially distanced options to meet their demand with online retailers, direct-to-consumer (DTC) selling, and subscription services. Customers who were able to shop with the click of a button, instead of braving potential COVID-19 exposure in the early stages of the pandemic, felt safer and more willing to try new brands. In fact, with many products and shopping outlets unavailable, 75 percent of consumers opted to try a new brand or buying channel. With this change comes a momentous opportunity for brands to seek creative ways to win their customers back.

The role of innovation during times of crisis

After spending 16 years at P&G, I was fortunate to “grow up” and establish my “street cred” in a company driven by innovation. P&G leverages data and consumer insights to launch improved and new products leading to increased market share. With the consumer at the center of each initiative, P&G continues to address unmet needs while creating new experiences to engage with their brands.

Now more than ever, global brands must continue to innovate, not only with products but also by engaging with new social media outlets to reach customers with a level of differentiation unmatched for their target market. Those companies that have imbedded innovation across all lines of business are quickly reestablishing any brand equity and loyalty lost during the pandemic. They are able to add consumer value and enrich customer relationships while driving market share and shareholder return.

With the rise of global vaccinations and the new normal upon us, I have three pieces of advice to armor retailers and consumer brands moving forward:

1. Meet consumers and customers where they are.

Genuine empathy helps drive brand loyalty. In order to be empathetic, you must keep the consumer and customer at the heart of every decision. Gaining a full understanding of your target audience will yield dividends. Those brands unwilling or unable to remain agile and pivot fast find that challenger brands are breaking into the market, capturing share, and excelling at connecting with customers by:

• Developing products from a deep understanding of consumer needs.
• Cultivating direct consumer relationships.
• Designing social and digital engagements beyond the point of purchase.
• Capturing customer feedback in real-time.
• Developing digital platforms to introduce new products and services.

Incumbents must get better at doing these things to stay relevant and compete. Technology can help capture consumer insights and connected IoT products can help brands better understand consumption needs, while artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can be leveraged to drive better demand sensing and forecasting to optimize the supply chain.

2. Be agile and smart.

Agility is critical to the success of any consumer goods company. COVID-19 underscored the importance of the level of responsiveness needed to empower employees to work wherever they are—in a building, at home, on the manufacturing floor, or in the store.

In order for consumer goods companies to win, they must have real-time operational insights to build a data-driven, intelligent enterprise that not only collects data across their multiple functions, geographies, and applications but also turns that data into insights, while identifying trends within their market, as well as within their operations.

Consumer goods companies are leveraging customer signals and AI to better predict consumer trends. Those signals are then incorporated into new product development to be proactive, rather than reactive, in meeting the consumer’s unmet need. Digitized product development processes (especially with remote collaboration) can help introduce products to market more rapidly than ever before.

3. Innovate everywhere.

Innovation can take many forms, not just with products. Don’t get me wrong, I love how consumer insights led to P&G innovations that continuously deliver on unmet needs (for example, Tide Pods, Swiffer, and Mr. Clean Magic Eraser). However, the pandemic has highlighted the opportunity to go beyond the product and find innovations across every end-to-end touchpoint to engage and build affinity with customers.

Here are just a few examples of customer experiences outside of the product itself:

• Price: Consumer price sensitivity and perception of value have shifted. Both brands and retailers are looking at everyday low prices (EDLP), shallower discount levels, and economy or bonus packs to incentivize loyalty as consumers limited their number of shopping trips to multiple stores once stock levels started to restabilize.
• Portfolio rationalization: Apply the 80/20 rule to your SKU and product portfolio. Focus on delivering a reliable and sustainable supply chain for your top-selling items across key categories to match consumer demand and help drive brand loyalty.
• Commerce channels: Expansion into different commerce channels has been the lifeblood for brands previously selling primarily in brick-and-mortar stores.
• Mixed reality, augmented reality, and digital selling tools: What is true today will not be true tomorrow. Mixed reality will continue to transcend how you interact with your customers and drive collaboration within organizations.
• Smart packaging: Environmental concerns haven’t disappeared during the pandemic and will continue long afterward. As more mandates require reduced reliance on single-use plastics, smart packaging will help defray the cost of reusable materials by building an ongoing consumer-brand relationship.
• Supply chain management: With a connected ecosystem, consumer goods companies can partner with their retailers to capture real-time demand signals to drive in-stock levels.

What remains true? Consumer goods companies need to develop strategic partnerships with their technology partners to achieve their business outcomes, move faster, stay closer to evolving trends, and drive the innovation needed to remain relevant with their consumers. There is no doubt that technology has and will continue to play a critical role in the changing consumer dynamics and brand engagement. Behavior has shifted. New marketplaces, “endless aisles,” and buying habits will continue to evolve. It’s up to each of us to help drive the change we want to see in the digital world and to help democratize technology to enable every person on the planet to truly achieve more.

To read get more insights into retail innovation, read the e-book Reimagine Retail in the Digital Age.

The post Consumer goods innovation amid retail uncertainty appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

What’s exciting is the opportunity to further explore the potential of health informatics, which was described in 2012 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as “the science, the how and why, behind health IT.” For years, healthcare has been limited by a fragmented application landscape, inaccessible electronic medical records, and complex data standards. This environment created an opening to engineer cloud platforms, such as our trusted, Azure-powered Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, simplifying the aggregation, curation and analysis of data to:

• Lower the cost and complexity of health data engineering.
• Make information more accessible to caregivers to mitigate risks, gain insights and improve the care pathway.
• Create gains across clinical and operational scenarios.

As we leave behind the decade of meaningful use and have mostly digitized health records now, we are entering the golden age of health informatics.

Achieving more for all of us

My team and I have the good fortune and responsibility to help empower U.S. healthcare providers, payers, medical device and pharmaceutical companies to use data to deliver better experiences, insights and care. We are passionate about driving digital transformation and innovation that enable organizations to achieve more for all of us, particularly in offering personalized care, empowering care teams and improving operations.

From early 2020 on, we’ve seen the health and life sciences community rise to each challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, rapidly embracing many of our cloud and AI solutions and leading to some incredible health informatics advances. For example:

• To improve patient care and community health, Novant Health is using data strategically, merging datasets and improving analytics with Microsoft Azure and Power BI to gain insights and more quickly recognize when pharmaceutical costs are out of alignment. “We’re bringing together clinical, financial and other data sources in Power BI so we don’t have to hunt down anomalies in different reports,” says Kate Forbes, Novant Health’s vice president of Insights and Analytics. “We immediately understand the bigger picture and take action faster.”
• As one of the largest health systems in the nation, Providence is easing emergency room overcrowding by using Microsoft Azure Databricks and other Azure services to support its new Providence Healthcare Data Platform. “I think this overcrowding solution, and the solutions that will come from the technology portfolio and capabilities that we’ve built out, will have a really positive impact on patient care and our caregivers’ ability to provide that care,” says Brett MacLaren, Providence chief data officer.

These are just two examples of informatics momentum allowing hospitals to reimagine healthcare.

“Contoso Healthcare”

To keep pace with the demand from U.S. Health and Life Sciences customers, our team developed a solution that showcases how our healthcare-data-aware cloud platform spurs the art of the possible for informaticists and clinicians. We show how a CEO of a multilocation health system logs into the fictional “Contoso Healthcare” portal to obtain a finger on the pulse of the healthcare system in real time, with a dashboard illlustrating comprehensive occupancy and readmission rates as well as revenue, costs and other key performance indicators (KPIs).

Using this Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare single pane of glass, built on Azure Synapse Analytics, Data Lake Analytics, Power Automate, Power Apps, and other tools, the executive might notice that Contoso’s Miami hospital has a higher readmission rate than its peers in Los Angeles and New York. The CEO could then bring the readmission issue to the attention of Contoso Miami’s hospital administrator, calling for an investigation into the root cause and orchestrating an appropriate intervention.

In another scenario, the CEO takes a look at a retrospective of the financial impact of COVID-19, from revenue to costs, bed occupancy and availability, ventilator utilization, and even real-time social media analytics to help gauge public sentiment and patient satisfaction. These KPIs establish a baseline and provide a method to use machine learning and cognitive services to produce predictive analytics.

The time is now

Our new Microsoft Clinical and Operational Informatics assets demonstrate a holistic, visual and compelling way to see a diverse set of data come alive and deliver profound insights that drive healthcare improvements.

• Read our Reimagine Healthcare e-book
• Sign up to stay informed about Microsoft healthcare initiatives.

The time is now to leverage a modern cloud-based informatics platform that generates optimum clinical and operational outcomes and serves as the catalyst for this emerging golden age.

The post The golden age of health informatics appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.

Educators are superstars

Since early 2020 when the pandemic began escalating, educators proved that they really are superstars, capable of adapting to remote and hybrid learning situations as government guidance and protocols evolved. We’ve seen countless examples of educators going above and beyond to overcome significant challenges, connect with students, and deliver high-quality education through remote and hybrid learning environments. You’ll find inspiring primary and secondary education and higher education stories demonstrating heroic efforts to teach while confronting remote learning issues involving technology, security and inclusivity.

Our Education team is committed to supporting educators with Microsoft 365 Education (M365), Microsoft Teams and other solutions that transform learning — and improving these tools based on their feedback. Whether teachers are remote, returning to the classroom or using a hybrid approach, these recently introduced Microsoft Teams features and video tips from respected education influencer Leslie Fisher will strengthen their teaching toolkit.

The benefits of Teams, M365

Teams also is helping educators address the growing importance of social-emotional learning, with Praise Badges giving teachers and students more ways to recognize one another, Education Insights enabling better understanding and response to student needs, and Reflect for learners to identify and label their emotions.

In continuing discussions with U.S. education professionals, we’re finding a growing appreciation for the benefits of using Teams, M365 and partnering with us to advance college and career readiness by equipping students with the tools they’ll use in the future, as highlighted in this story about theUniversity of Alabama. Our anecdotal evidence is corroborated by Forrester’s study, The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft 365 Education, which notes students saw a 20% improvement in reading and writing, educators realized 216 more hours each year to focus on improving learning outcomes and Microsoft Teams produced enhanced classroom engagement.

Security is paramount

One of the key insights confirmed in the pandemic-driven learning environment is that security is paramount, especially given that 64% of reported enterprise malware encounters occur in education. Stephen Taylor, director of Digital Learning and Teaching at North Carolina’s Onslow County Schools, emphasized the importance of security by saying: “It was important for us to know that Teams is extremely secure. We had to be aware of CIPA and COPPA compliance,” referring to the Child Internet Protection Act and the Child Online Privacy and Protection Act. “Microsoft helps give us peace of mind that we’re meeting those regulations.”

Microsoft’s history of providing secure, reliable, and affordable computing, as well as M365 compliance with rigorous industry standards, ensures our education clients can rely on us for a safe and simple experience for all. Teams features like Hard Mute and Student Lobby allow educators to keep students secure and learn from anywhere.

Creating equitable and inclusive learning

While the pandemic has imposed hardships on all, educators who teach students with special needs have faced some of the greatest hurdles over the past two school years. Teams and other accessible technologies have been invaluable in enabling teachers to keep these exceptional students involved in a virtual learning environment. Being able to see, hear and connect with teachers through Teams also has reduced some of the stress on the 2.5 million students in the U. S. who have learning disabilities, along with every parent trying to secure the best education experience for their child.

The Forrester Total Economic Impact study underscores the importance of implementing assistive technologies by noting that up to 50% of instructional time can be lost to managing the needs of students with disabilities. That makes Microsoft tools such as Immersive Reader, our new Reading Progress in Teams and other accessible education technologies absolutely vital to creating equitable and inclusive learning.

Microsoft recently reinforced its dedication to conquer what’s been called the disability divide to support the more than 1 billion people around the world living with a disability. We’re very proud to build on Microsoft’s accessibility commitment for the education community with M365 by:

• Providing five times more integrated assistive education technologies than a competitor, all free of charge.
• Reducing the stigma for students with special needs by incorporating assistive technologies throughout, so that everyone is using the same applications and has a common user experience.
• Reducing the stigma for students with special needs by incorporating assistive technologies throughout, so that everyone is using the same applications and has a common user experience.
• Delivering all the accessibility features of a competitor offering without having to purchase, deploy and manage multiple third-party applications, which not only increase costs but add security issues.

Empowering each and every student

Microsoft values educators for playing an extraordinary role in the lives of students, helping them to thrive despite the pandemic. To acknowledge the demanding responsibility of empowering each and every student to achieve more, we launched these virtual showcase sites with the latest digital transformation tools, videos, stories, and more:

• K-12 education showcase
• Higher education showcase

In addition to taking advantage of these new resources, we hope you’ll learn more about Microsoft 365 Education, connect with an education expert or follow me on Twitter @lydiasmyers and LinkedIn to prepare and get excited about the 2021–2022 school year.

The post Celebrating educators for elevating learning in an uncertain world appeared first on Microsoft in Business Blogs.